Self-association of adrenodoxin studied by using analytical ultracentrifugation

2007 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Behlke ◽  
Otto Ristau ◽  
Eva-Christina Müller ◽  
Frank Hannemann ◽  
Rita Bernhardt
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orla M. Dunne ◽  
Xin Gao ◽  
Ruodan Nan ◽  
Jayesh Gor ◽  
Penelope J. Adamson ◽  
...  

Complement Factor H (CFH), with 20 short complement regulator (SCR) domains, regulates the alternative pathway of complement in part through the interaction of its C-terminal SCR-19 and SCR-20 domains with host cell-bound C3b and anionic oligosaccharides. In solution, CFH forms small amounts of oligomers, with one of its self-association sites being in the SCR-16/20 domains. In order to correlate CFH function with dimer formation and the occurrence of rare disease-associated variants in SCR-16/20, we identified the dimerization site in SCR-16/20. For this, we expressed, in Pichia pastoris, the five domains in SCR-16/20 and six fragments of this with one-three domains (SCR-19/20, SCR-18/20, SCR-17/18, SCR-16/18, SCR-17 and SCR-18). Size-exclusion chromatography suggested that SCR dimer formation occurred in several fragments. Dimer formation was clarified using analytical ultracentrifugation, where quantitative c(s) size distribution analyses showed that SCR-19/20 was monomeric, SCR-18/20 was slightly dimeric, SCR-16/20, SCR-16/18 and SCR-18 showed more dimer formation, and SCR-17 and SCR-17/18 were primarily dimeric with dissociation constants of ~5 µM. The combination of these results located the SCR-16/20 dimerization site at SCR-17 and SCR-18. X-ray solution scattering experiments and molecular modelling fits confirmed the dimer site to be at SCR-17/18, this dimer being a side-by-side association of the two domains. We propose that the self-association of CFH at SCR-17/18 enables higher concentrations of CFH to be achieved when SCR-19/20 are bound to host cell surfaces in order to protect these better during inflammation. Dimer formation at SCR-17/18 clarified the association of genetic variants throughout SCR-16/20 with renal disease.


1972 ◽  
Vol 126 (5) ◽  
pp. 1081-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Halford ◽  
M. J. Schlesinger ◽  
H. Gutfreund

1. The stability of the tetrameric form of Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase was examined by analytical ultracentrifugation. 2. The stopped-flow technique was used to study the hydrolysis of nitrophenyl phosphates by the alkaline phosphatase tetramer at pH7.5 and 8.3. In both cases transient product formation was observed before the steady state was attained. Both transients consisted of the liberation of 1mol of nitrophenol/2mol of enzyme subunits within the dead-time of the apparatus. The steady-state rates were identical with those observed with the dimer under the same conditions. 3. The binding of 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl phosphonate to the alkaline phosphatase tetramer was studied by the temperature-jump technique. The self-association of two dimers to form the tetramer is linked to a conformation change within the dimer. This accounts for the differences between the transient phases in the reactions of the dimer and the tetramer with substrate. 4. Addition of Pi to the alkaline phosphatase tetramer caused it to dissociate into dimers. The tetramer is unable to bind this ligand. It is suggested that the tetramer undergoes a compulsory dissociation before the completion of its first turnover with substrate. 5. On the basis of these findings a mechanism is proposed for the involvement of the alkaline phosphatase tetramer in the physiology of E. coli.


2008 ◽  
Vol 411 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. Mullin ◽  
Adam Yates ◽  
Arthur J. Rowe ◽  
Bianca Nijmeijer ◽  
Douglas Colby ◽  
...  

The defining activity of the homeodomain protein Nanog is the ability to confer cytokine-independent self-renewal upon ES (embryonic stem) cells in which it is overexpressed. However, the biochemical basis by which Nanog achieves this function remains unknown. In the present study, we show that Nanog dimerizes through a functionally critical domain. Co-immunoprecipitation of Nanog molecules tagged with distinct epitopes demonstrates that Nanog self-associates through a region in which every fifth residue is tryptophan. In vitro binding experiments establish that this region participates directly in self-association. Moreover, analytical ultracentrifugation indicates that, in solution, Nanog is in equilibrium between monomeric and dimeric forms with a Kd of 3 μM. The functional importance of Nanog dimerization is established by ES cell colony-forming assays in which deletion of the tryptophan-repeat region eliminates the capacity of Nanog to direct LIF (leukaemia inhibitory factor)-independent self-renewal.


2010 ◽  
Vol 432 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Abe ◽  
Jayesh Gor ◽  
Daniel G. Bracewell ◽  
Stephen J. Perkins ◽  
Paul A. Dalby

Of the four human IgG antibody subclasses IgG1–IgG4, IgG4 is of interest in that it does not activate complement and exhibits atypical self-association, including the formation of bispecific antibodies. The solution structures of antibodies are critical to understand function and therapeutic applications. Thus IgG4 was studied by synchrotron X-ray scattering. The Guinier X-ray radius of gyration RG increased from 5.0 nm to 5.1 nm with an increase of concentration. The distance distribution function P(r) revealed a single peak at 0.3 mg/ml, which resolved into two peaks that shifted to smaller r values at 1.3 mg/ml, even though the maximum dimension of IgG4 was unchanged at 17 nm. This indicated a small concentration dependence of the IgG4 solution structure. By analytical ultracentrifugation, no concentration dependence in the sedimentation coefficient of 6.4 S was observed. Constrained scattering modelling resulted in solution structural determinations that showed that IgG4 has an asymmetric solution structure in which one Fab–Fc pair is closer together than the other pair, and the accessibility of one side of the Fc region is masked by the Fab regions. The averaged distances between the two Fab–Fc pairs change by 1–2 nm with the change in IgG4 concentration. The averaged conformation of the Fab regions appear able to hinder complement C1q binding to the Fc region and the self-association of IgG4 through the Fc region. The present results clarify IgG4 function and provide a starting point to investigate antibody stability.


2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. A. Wood ◽  
Stephanie A. Capaldi ◽  
Mark A. Robinson ◽  
Andrew J. Baron ◽  
Nicola J. Stonehouse

The use of bacteriophages as experimental tools allows the investigation of interactions between components at the molecular level that are often not possible in more complex virus systems. The bacteriophage φ29 acts as a molecular machine to package its own genomic DNA during viral assembly. Self-associating RNA molecules, called pRNA, have an essential role in the function of this machine. This paper reports the characterization of this self-association (which leads to multimerisation of wild-type and truncated variant pRNAs) by analytical ultracentrifugation (including determination of the partial specific volume of the pRNA), together with an investigation into the domains of the molecule important for multimerisation by the use of complementary DNA probes.


2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (18) ◽  
pp. 5546-5554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian M. Fraser ◽  
Bertha González-Pedrajo ◽  
Jeremy R. H. Tame ◽  
Robert M. Macnab

ABSTRACT FliJ, a 17-kDa protein, is a soluble component of the Salmonella type III flagellar protein export system that has antiaggregation properties and several other characteristics that suggest it may have a chaperone-like function. We have now examined this protein in detail. Ten-amino-acid scanning deletions covering the entire 147-amino-acid sequence were tested for complementation of a fliJ null strain; only the first and last deletions complemented. A few of the deletions, especially towards the C terminus, exerted a dominant negative effect on wild-type cells, indicating that they were actively interfering with function. Two truncated versions of FliJ, representing its N- and C-terminal halves, failed to complement and were not dominant. We tested for FliJ self-association by several techniques. Size-exclusion chromatography (Superdex 200) indicated an apparent molecular mass of around 50 kDa, which could reflect either multimerization or an elongated shape or both. Multiangle light scattering gave a peak value of 20 kDa, close to the molecular mass of the monomer. Analytical ultracentrifugation gave evidence for weak self-association as a trimer or tetramer. It was known from previous studies that FliJ interacts with the N-terminal region of FliH, a negative regulator of the ATPase FliI. Using both truncation and deletion versions of FliJ, we now show that it is its C-terminal region that is responsible for this interaction. We also show that FliJ interacts with the soluble cytoplasmic domain of the largest membrane component of the export apparatus, FlhA; although small deletions in FliJ did not interfere with the association, both truncated versions failed to associate, indicating that a substantial amount of the central region of the FliJ sequence participates in the association. We present a model summarizing these multiple interactions.


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